


hold me close

by sunshineflying



Series: Reylo Tumblr Prompts [17]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-12
Updated: 2018-04-12
Packaged: 2019-04-22 03:09:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14299476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunshineflying/pseuds/sunshineflying
Summary: written for a prompt on tumblr. Rey is in pain. Kylo can feel it through their bond. When he tries to figure out what happened, he realizes that this monthly occurrence is something Rey doesn't fully understand, but he can provide some comfort as she struggles through.





	hold me close

Pain.

That’s the first thing Kylo feels when their bond connects them. It radiates, though he can’t pinpoint the source. It’s just  _ there _ annoying and relentless. “I’m trying to sleep,” he mumbles.

His face is still smashed into his pillow, his shirt lying on the floor, the blankets sprawled haphazardly over his chest. Kylo lays on his side, and when he blinks his eyes open, he sees Rey. She’s curled up as well, a slight sheen of sweat on her brow - or maybe she’s just warm, wherever she is. He doesn’t know. As far as he can see, she’s lying in his bed.

The force works in strange ways.

Rey doesn’t open her eyes or acknowledge Kylo in any way. She takes deep breaths, slow and deliberate, and Kylo takes that moment to really study her, to try to figure out what’s going on. She’s got her knees drawn to her chest and her arms wrapped around her waist, clinging to her abdomen. “Did you get hurt?” he asks instinctively.

She shakes her head. Her eyes are squished shut in discomfort and she doesn’t bother looking up at her. Kylo feels alarmed now, as he tries to figure out what’s got Rey so quiet, so subdued. The ache still echoes through him, ebbing in and out, and he begins to wrap his head around what this is.

It’s so basic, so  _ human _ . Something he’s never had to contend with, thankfully.

Though now that he’s feeling it, he wishes he weren’t.

“It’s that time of the month,” Kylo says simply.

Rey looks up now, her head sharp, her eyes a little wild and panicked. “How did you…?”

“It’s normal,” Kylo explains. “You… you knew that, right?” Given how flustered Rey looks, he’d guess that she perhaps didn’t realize it was a common thing. “Did you even…?”

Rey’s eyes turn away from Kylo in embarrassment, casting her eyelashes across her cheeks, mixing beauty with pain in a way that only Rey could. “Every woman goes through this,” he explains, and feels silly to have to be the one to tell Rey this. Didn’t  _ anyone _ on Jakku bother to tell her the basics of puberty and growing up?”

“I thought there was something wrong with me,” Rey mumbles. “I always have. Nobody talks about it.”

“I mean… it’s a little taboo to talk about,” Kylo says. “Unless you really know a person, I mean. Did nobody on Jakku tell you?”

Rey shakes her head.

Incredulously, he asks, “Then how did you deal with it?”

It’s humiliating for Rey, having this conversation with Kylo. Her eyes stay downcast and she scrunches in on herself a little closer; the pain is  _ so much _ . Kylo can’t imagine how Rey has put up with this for as many years as she has.

“When I scavenged for parts that were worth selling, I’d sometimes find old clothing or med packs. Kitchens, sometimes. On old ships,” Rey says softly. “I’d just… take that fabric. Use that.”

“Is that what you do now?”

Rey doesn’t answer.

For as much as he may be loathe to admit it, Kylo knows that he’s going to have to be the one to teach her these things. That nobody else knows this is something Rey struggles with, when she doesn’t have to.

“You need to talk to my mother,” Kylo says seriously. “There are items created specifically to… catch the blood.” They avoid each other’s eyes. The situation is weird for both of them. “And she can help you find medication or something. To stop the pain.” 

Rey glances up at that - she’d do  _ anything _ to keep the pain from attacking her so relentlessly. If she feels even a fraction of what he does, she must be completely miserable. It hurts him to think that she’s dealt with this for years, assuming there was something wrong with her -  _ her _ , specifically, and nobody else. 

“Promise me you’ll talk to her. As soon as you can,” he says.

“Fine.”

Rey looks away, squishing her eyes shut again as the pain shoots down her spine. Kylo reaches out, hesitant and gentle, to rest his hand on her forearm. Rey doesn’t squirm away; she lets him touch her, lets him scoot nearer to her on the bed.

This is all just a projection, the Force working in mysterious ways which neither of them can understand. And yet, Rey feels so normal in that moment. She’s in pain, and he’s comforting her. That’s all - nothing more. And that feels so mundane that it makes Rey’s heart soar. 

As she folds into his embrace, unabashedly using his bare chest as a pillow, Rey closes her eyes and lets herself just  _ be _ . She doesn’t know when the Force will separate them, when this moment will come to an end, but she wills it to last until she falls asleep. Her pain feels like it’s subsiding, like Kylo is leeching the pain away from her, absorbing it into himself, letting her find respite. 

She doesn’t know if that’s possible, but if it were, she wouldn’t be surprised that he was doing it for her. Kylo has a heart, in there somewhere. She can feel it thrumming under her hand, fast and steady under her palm. 

“Sleep,” he whispers to her, kissing her forehead.

Rey closes her eyes, but finds that she doesn’t want to fall asleep - not when she could stay here in his arms, relaxed and calm against his warm body. He’s so  _ warm _ . It soothes her, and before long, she’s doing just as he said and falling asleep in his arms.

It’s heavenly.


End file.
